Metro Los Angeles and San Francisco increasingly resemble Mexico City and Sao Paulo, with a large affluent upper class, a vast proletariat and a huge income gap in between.State policy matters. What about the impact of taxes? He finds:
The eight states with no state income tax grew 18 percent in the last decade. The other states (including the District of Columbia) grew just 8 percent.Is there any possible way you can attribute that to chance? Neither can I. My home state of Wyoming is one of those eight.
How about state policies vis-a-vis unions in general, and public employee unions in particular? The data says:
The 22 states with right-to-work laws grew 15 percent in the last decade. The other states grew just 6 percent.
The 16 states where collective bargaining with public employees is not required grew 15 percent in the last decade. The other states grew 7 percent.These outcomes suggest pro-growth policy choices at the state level. Barone's entire article is worth your time.
